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KNISHMAS! It doesn’t have to be a ’silent night’ for us.  Once again we groove into the night with the alternative to xmas eve alternatives.

This year we welcome back the jams of Even Sh’siyah, who infuse the southern rock grooves ala Allman Brothers with Jewish flavor for a heady groove.  Their third self-release album, Wake Up, dropped this year. Joining us for the first time is Brooklyn’s RavShmuel, a Rosh Yeshiva by day and beer-drinking, Phish-following singer/songwriter by night.  His single “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” became a youtube sensation following the release of his debut album, “Protocols,’ on Sony/JMG.

And as a special treat, several local singer/songwriters will perform original Jewy tunes, including Rachel Katzman (of Happy Butterfly Foot), Evan Jacover and Adam Davis (yes, that Adam Davis).

Even Sh’siyah
Shir Hamaalos
Yemenite Fever
Hallelu
Hisoreri

RavShmuel
I’m in Love
Dumb World

“The bastard love child Tenacious D and Fiddler on the Roof never had.” – SEATTLE STRANGER

“Part of a new breed of Jewish hipster comedy that includes Jon Stewart, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sarah Silverman and Heeb Magazine.” – PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS

JEWMONGOUS is the colicky, uncircumcised brain child of SEAN ALTMAN, the golden-voiced song-writing wiz behind the pioneering comedy act What I Like About Jew and the founder and former leader of Rockapella. JEWMONGOUS’ debut album Taller Than Jesus will be released on Christmas Day 2007 (to give Jews something to celebrate that day).
Sean was featured in Time Out New York’s cover story “The New Super Jews,” (with Jon Stewart and Sarah Silverman) and in the New York Times feature about “the Jewish Hipster Movement.” He debuted JEWMONGOUS in 2006 and has garnered press accolades coast to coast.

Sean has released three solo albums and was named “Best Male Artist” in the 2005 International Acoustic Music Awards. He is best known as the founder and former leader of the vocal group Rockapella – stars of the TV series “Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?”- for which Sean co-wrote the famous theme song with Broadway’s David Yazbek. He is a member of the Loser’s Lounge series in Manhattan, sings with Kol Zimra Jewish Acapella and performs charity concerts with Voices For Israel, he pitches Astelin nasal spray on TV as a member of the acapella group The GrooveBarbers, he serenades hospital patients as a volunteer with Musicians On Call, and his songs have been featured in dozens of TV shows. In short, Sean is a highly exposed mensch, albeit a potty-mouthed one.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 door, $10 students. 18+ show.
Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont, Chicago Map it

They Tried to Kill Us
Blow Murry Blow
Simchas Torah
Long Tongue Shloime
Be My Little Shabbos Goy
Today I Am A Man
Taller Than Jesus

Aharit
Areut Yehuda
Ein Yeush
Yerushalayim
Lo Lefached

Aharit HaYamim is an Israeli reggae and world-beat sensation whose groove is rooted in love of Zion they share with their Rastafarian brethren. They proclaim love for “Yerushalayim” and “Holy Mount Zion” in tight harmonies layered over thumping basslines. Their music has attracted mixed multitude of followers, comprised of rastafarians, jam band fans, Phisheads, dissillusioned children of Oslo and Haredi Hilltop youth.

“Aharit Hayamim is here to wake you up and spread the message of unity, love and Israel,” says the band. Wearing brightly colored, home-sewn, hemp clothing with tzitzit, Aharit HaYamim delivers a heady musical mix perfect for party people or spiritual seekers.

“Lush instruments flow through the songs with clarinets, flutes, mandolins and more exotic instruments making appearances… Jamaican icon Bob Marley’s musical and philosophical themes also show up in the band’s repertoire – albeit with a Jewish twist.” Israel National Radio

Calling all artsy Jews who like to party for a purpose. The Jewish Caucus of PACT (Public Action for Change Today) and KFAR bring you Wide Angle, 8pm on Sunday October 14th @ Lakeview Broadcasting Co.

This is a social event with social action undertones. We will be showing images captured by 3 indy-photographers who teamed up with a group of homeless youth from around Chicago to provide an artisitic view into the homelessness situation through the eyes of those actually facing such issues on a daily basis.

$12 cover at the door, $10 if you if you RSVP. 21 and up.

Mekhaye
Balkan Espanol
Skrip Klezmerl

Contrary to popular belief, Golem is neither a towering Jewish Frankenstein who defended the Jews of 17th Century Prague, nor a creature from Lord of the Rings. Golem is a 6 piece Eastern European folk-punk band.Golem’s JDub debut, FRESH OFF BOAT, is available now. Produced by Emery Dobyns (Patti Smith, Antony and the Johnsons, the Battles) and featuring Mike Gordon of Phish, Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls, and Lenny Kaye of Patti Smith’s band!

“Stellar! A wild edgy approach with a reverance for Old World tradition.” New Yorker Magazine
“Golem produces the sort of music you’d expect if the shtetl were filled with punks instead of peasants.” Washington Post
“This is not your father’s klezmer band…unless of course Sid Vicious was your father…” NY Jewish Week

Mesquitto from Meggido

The Rabbinical School Dropouts are Sun Ra, the Hampton Grease Band, Frank Zappa and the Klezmatics all rolled into one. The music of the Friedmann brothers is fresh, imaginative and the future of Klezmer music. Their big band (featuring oboe, mandolin, bassoon, theremin, toy piano, tablas, etc.) storms through a dozen creative originals touching upon klezmer, jazz, funk, Latin, rock, and varied mishegoss along the way. Jewish garage jazz with a sick sense of humor from Long Beach, California. It’s been called Esoteric Space Klezmer, but mostly its just wild musical fun. With special guests, Lamajamal.

Hermitco
Digital Monkey
Bulgarian Chix
Balkan Beat Box performs an inspired madness that crosses multi-cultural circus with non-stop dance party. Its full horns, dj beats, throbbing basslines and percussion come together for a surreal atmosphre that’s part Gypsy caravan, part performance-art collective. Blending electronic music with hard-edged folk music from the Balkans, North Africa, and the Middle East, the exciting and internationally acclaimed collective Balkan Beat Box is out to prove that all the world is indeed a stage — and that we are all gypsies.

Equally influenced by Boban Markovic, Rachid Taha, and Fanfare Ciocarlia as well as Manu Chao and Charlie Parker, Balkan Beat Box presents a wild mixture of styles and sounds on their self titled debut which the Denver Post called “An Eastern Bloc party turned to 11 at 4:30 a.m. – only live and with musicians hailing from Turkey, Israel, Morocco, Bulgaria and Spain.” A band of New Yorkers, Israelis, Africans and Bulgarians, led by ex-Gogol Bordello member Ori Kaplan and Firewater/Big Lazy’s Tamir Muskat, BBB brings together folk traditions with electronic beats, video projections, and a rotating cast of vocalists including the Victoria Hannah, Tomer Yosef, Buglarian Chicks, Jeremiah Lockwood, and gnawa player Hassan Ben Jaffar. Hear them WBEZ’s Radio M:

Dror Yikra
Shkembah
Black Sheep

ESTA is a multi-ethnic band with innovative compositions and imaginative arrangements – deeply rooted in Israel’s diverse traditions. Esta’s band members are all first generation Israelis, raised on their parents’ musical heritage from Bulgaria, Iraq, Poland, Iran, Romania, Syria, Russia, and Turkey. Inspired also by the 1970s progressive rock, Esta’s music traverses myriad soundscapes – acoustic instruments dance with electric, a cappella vocals complement a symphony of sounds.

Founded in 1979 by Shlomo Deshet and Ori Beanstock, Esta has created a distinctive new sound, incorporating Jewish, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, African and Celtic genres into its own pan-global sound, propelled by Rock’s energy and Jazz’s musicianship. Esta is among a handful of visionary artists to fuse contemporary music with folkloric styles and sounds. World Fusion isn’t just a genre Esta performs. It is its soul.

Ehad
Elokeinu
Merciful One

“World Fusion Beat Scientists” Zohar are led by composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Erran Baron Cohen, whose credits also include the popular Borat movie sountrack, which starred his brother Sacha. ZOHAR weave together the beats and textures of modern club culture with hareem, hip-hop, electronica, dub and future grooves. It is a deconstruction of past, present and future, spanning Jewish Cantors, Arab Muezzins, Byzantine chants, meets today’s modern jazz and experimental musicians. Their approach is resolutely experimental and uncompromising with an instinctive feel for lush cinematic arrangements and intelligent melodies. Their acclaimed debut, One.Three.Seven. was produced by Miles Copeland’s Ark 21 label.

Please Note: HotHouse is closing its Balbo location at the end of July.  This event will NOT be effected by this unfortunate turn of events.  Join us on one of that last concerts to be held at this venue!

Etz Chaim Hi
Lecha Dodi
Bein Mayim L’Yayin

Rock out on Israeli Independence Day with an All Ages show featuring Heedoosh, whose visceral sound is akin to shoving your soul into an electric socket. Embracing styles from hard rock grunge to sensually melodic ballads, Heedoosh sonically traverses a brooding, middle eastern fusion with Hebrew lyrics that convey both the longing for, and imminence of, redemption.

Their songs are of breathtaking beauty and complexity, rooted in sacred text and combined with contemporary verses gilded with a true rock edge influenced by Stone Temple Pilots, Radiohead, Coldplay and Oasis- a mix of hard rock and brit-pop with Hebrew lyrics and Jewish themes. The songs hold fast to their rock roots and their Jewish sources without compromising any integrity on either front.

Map it